This blog presents information about the 62 men named on the WW1 memorial from St James Church, Toxteth.
Use the tabs below or the search bar to navigate the site. The Names page has links to each man. Please leave comments or email me at thewarmemorial@gmail.com

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Monday, April 23, 2012

Rifleman John James Corkish 203097

John James Corkish

There were 2 John J Corkish records on the CWGC database but one was from Douglas, I.O.M. and the other from Liverpool.

John J Corkish was born on May 7th 1878 and baptised on 29th December 1881 in the Church of St George, Walton on the Hill (Liverpool). His parents were Margaret Ann (Curphey) and John James Corkish, a policeman, both originally from the Isle of Man. The baptism record shows that they lived in Fairy Street (which no longer exists.)

The 1881 census also shows they lived on Fairy Street (This was in the Everton area of Liverpool)

At the time of the 1891 census they lived in Faraday Street, Everton. This street still exists. Margaret's brother Thomas Clague lived next door and was also a policeman from the Isle of Man, his son Louis was enumerated at the house of the Corkish family.At the time of the 1901 Census John was a grocer and an employer and lived in Liscard, Wallasey.

In the 1901 census return John, aged 22, and 5 of his siblings, were enumerated at 37 Rudgrave Square, Liscard, their parents weren't at home. John was a grocer and an employer - possibly employing his younger brother Charles (aged 16) who was described as a grocer's assistant. On 1st February 1903 John James Corkish married Edith Ann Donkin in St John's,Egremont. By the time of the 1911 census they lived in Parkgate, Cheshire. John was still a grocer and an employer and they had three children:Edith Sybil Fletcher Corkish born 1904Gladys Louisa Ridley Corkish born 1906Mary Goodwin Corkish born 1910, died 1914 aged 4. The family were living at 59 Whitefield Road, Everton and May was buried in Walton Park Cemetery.

I have been told by a member of the Corkish family that John called himself a master grocer for a while but then went bankrupt and went to live in Marlborough Road, Wallasey.

Military Service

Below is John's medal card, it shows that he was a private in the Liverpool Regiment and his number was 203097

Death and Commemoration

This record shows that he was killed on 20th Sept 1917, aged 39 and was a rifleman. He was in the 5th Battalion of the King's (Liverpool Regiment) His family paid for the following inscription to be added to his CWGC headstone:

Sadly Missed by Wife and Children, Thy Kingdom Come, Oh God.

The recently-added information from the CWGC archives show that John J. Corkish's remains were among the thousands exhumed from their battlefield burials, identified (he was identified by means of an ID tag) and buried in Tyne Cot Cemetery in Belgium.

His entry in UK Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914-1919 gives the following information: note that the regimental number is incorrect.

Extracted from 1/5 KLR War DiaryVlamertinghe Tuesday 18/9/17 X Day. Battalion Moved up to
trenches right sub-sector Potijze for the night. Sick nil.Wednesday 19/9/17 Y
Day. Battalion moved up to the forming up place in front of PommernCastle for
the attack the next morning. Supporting the
7th KLR.

Thursday 20/9/17Z Day. The Battalion attacked at 5.40am
passing through the 7th KLR and taking the Green Line, consolidating this
position which ran from Hill 37 on the left to Zevencote on the right.
Casualties: officers - 4
killed, 5 wounded ; Other Ranks - 41 killed, 7 died of wounds, 7 missing and
114 wounded.

The following has been transcribed from the
Regimental History by Everard Wyrall:-THE BATTLE OF THE MENIN ROAD RIDGE: 20TH 25TH SEPTEMBER 1917"At the beginning of September," said
Sir Douglas Haig, "the weather gradually improved, and artillery and other
preparations for my next attack proceeded steadily. Both the extent of the
preparations required, however, and the need to give the ground time to recover
from the heavy rain of August, rendered a considerable interval unavoidable
before the new advance could be undertaken. The 20th of September was therefore
chosen for the date of our attack, and before that day our preparations had
been completed."The front selected for the attack extended from
the Ypres - CominesCanal,
just north of Hollebeke, to the Ypres -
Staden Railway north of Langemarck - a distance of just over eight miles. The
average depth of the operations was one thousand yards, widening to the depth
of a mile in the eighbourhood of the Menin
Road. "Zero" hour for
the attack was fixed at 5.40 a.m. The
particular sectors of the front of
special interest to the King's Regiment were the Reutelbeek sector (south of
the Polygon Wood) into which the 4th King's of the 33rd Division moved on the
24th of September; the line immediately south east of St. Julien (from which
the King's men of the 55th Division, as well as other troops of that division,
attacked the enemy at "Zero" hour), and the Langemarck sector in
which the I 2th Battalion (20th Division) were in support on the 23rd of
September. The King's men of the 55th Division were, however, the only
battalions of the regiment which went forward to the attack at "zero"
hour. After the Battle of Pilkem the 55th Division had been relieved, and the
three brigades moved back to the Tournehem-Recques-Nordausques area for
training. The remainder of August and the first fortnight of September were
thus spent. . . The 165th Brigade was to attack with the 1/7th King's on the
right and the 1/9th King's on the left; the 1/5th and 1/6th King's right and
left support respectively. There were three objectives: Red Line, Dotted Line,
Yellow and Green Lines. The 1/7th and 1/9th were to capture the Red and Yellow
Lines, and the 1/5th and 1/6th the Green Line. Every effort was to be made to
capture Hill 37. Other strong points to which particular attention was to be
paid were Gallipoli, Hill 35 (Lens), Iberian, Delva and Capitol."

EMAIL FROM A RELATIVE OF J J CORKISH:

Amanda

It's good to hear from you.If it's of interest, John James
Corkish (1878 - 1917) is named on the war memorial at Ballaugh, Isle of Man,
which is the family origin (Ramsey / Ballaugh area - they had a farm at Black
Wood Ballaugh).His father was John James Corkish (1856 - 1898), a
Police Officer in Liverpool. I don't know why he died at 42 years of
age.His grandfather was another John James Corkish from IOM. They were
just trying to confuse me!I've found that JJ 3rd was born at 11
Fairy Street, mother being Margaret Ann (Nee Curphey) born West Derby but
retired to Kirk Michael IOM, where her family came from.JJ was a
grocer at Parkgate Wirral, the business failed and he became an insurance
salesman residing at 8 Marlborough Rd Wallasey before conscription to 5th
Bn, KLR.He was married to Edith Donkin, also from West
Derby.

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This is my hobby which is slowly taking over all my free time!
I love history and researching and I am particularly fascinated by the First World War and how it affected the people of Liverpool. I believe very strongly that War Memorials should be protected and cherished and shared so that the sacrifices made by our local communities are never forgotten.